Ramona Quimby and the dawnzerlee light

I enjoyed it, though I realized I wanted Ramona to look a lot more like Mary Badham, the young actess who played Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. I always imagined Ramona to be skinnier — more knees and elbows and shoulders — than the Ramona of the new movie. But, no biggie.

I’m a Beverly Cleary fan from way back — childhood, in fact — and I still remember very specific episodes from those books.

In one episode, Ramona, who was learning to tell time, was told to leave her house at “a quarter after.” Ramona reasoned that a quarter was 25 cents, so “a quarter after” must mean 25 minutes after the hour.

So, yes. She was late. But not entirely illogical.

Another had to do with Ramona learning The Star Spangled Banner and wondering about the “dawnzerlee” light. Was it some kind of lamp?

I had wondered the very same same thing. Of couse, it’s the “dawn’s early light,” but nobody tells you that in elementary school.

I wasn’t surprised to read in a story at npr.org that Beverly Cleary is alive and well and living in Oregon. And I wasn’t surprised to learn that she was involved in the Ramona and Beezus movie. What else would Ramona’s 94-year-old creator be but formidable?